Deflating Hysteria over Broncos

Broncomania has been a favorite sport for about half of
the Denver population for the last three decades. Having been a Broncos fan ever since the
Lou Saban and Floyd Little era--before most of the current Broncos were even born--I'm
delighted that the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy now resides in Denver. But while
Broncomania is a lot of fun, Bronco hysteria--as currently being practiced at the state
legislature--is nonsense.

Last year, the legislature passed a bill to allow a vote
on a tax increase for a new Broncos stadium in November 1998. Pat Bowlen's lobbyists,
however, are hard at work trying to get the election moved up to May 1998. There are a few
problems with this, however, starting with the fact that it's illegal.

The state Constitution's Taxpayer Bill of Rights
specifically requires that tax elections be held in November, so that the largest number
of people will vote. Bowlen's push for a May election amounts to electoral cheating,
trying to rig the contest so that a hard core of tax supporters can capture a low-turnout
election.

The pretext for moving the election to an illegal, earlier
date is--get this--to save the taxpayers money. The Bronco lobbyists contend that the cost
of building a stadium is growing by one and half percent per month, so we have to have an
early election so we can start building soon, to keep the costs from going up even more.

A cost increase rate of 1.5% per month works out--on a
compounded annual basis--to near 20% per year. At a time when the inflation rate is
running less than 3%, we are supposed to believe that stadium construction inflation is
20%? Even under the worst inflation of the late 1970s, the inflation rate was well below
Bowlen's alleged stadium inflation rate.

The second cause of Bronco hysteria--besides wild claims
about Italian-level inflation rates--is the unfounded fear that if Pat Bowlen isn't given
hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, he will move the Broncos.

But in fact, the Broncos are tied to Mile High Stadium by
an unbreakable lease that has eighteen more years to run. No matter how much the chumps in
some other city might be willing to pay Mr. Pat, it is legally impossible for him to move
the team.

Moreover, if Bowlen did get the huge bribe he is
demanding, there is no particular reason to believe that he would keep his promise to
leave the team in Denver--if a better deal came along from another city a few years later.
In the 1970s, Mile High Stadium was given a huge, taxpayer-financed expansion and upgrade.
In return, the Broncos signed a long-term lease with the city.

This is the very lease that Bowlen is now threatening to
break, if he doesn't get what he wants. A contract is a legally binding promise, and if
Pat Bowlen won't keep his existing promises, only a fool would expect him to keep his new
promises.

The third cause of Bronco hysteria is the fear that Denver
needs the Broncos more than Broncos need Denver.

In truth, the Broncos contribute very little to the Denver
economy. Study after study has shown that professional sports do not promote economic
growth; they simply divert the spending of entertainment dollars. More dollars spent on
the Broncos means less money spent on movies, museums, and dining.

The Broncos do attract some fans from Wyoming, Nebraska,
and other places, and these tourist dollars do represent a net gain to the Denver economy.
But a few thousand fans from out of state hardly justify the expenditure of hundreds of
millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies.

Nor are the Broncos necessary to Denver's status as a
world-class city. If football teams made the city important, then Green Bay (with an
outstanding team) is a more significant city than Los Angeles (which has no professional
football team).

Professional sports are fun, but their contribution to a
city's quality of life is rather small. Do you know anyone who is ashamed to live in
Colorado because the 1998 Nuggets may be the worst team in National Basketball Association
history?

If the Webb administration were misguided enough to let
Pat Bowlen out of his unbreakable lease, allowing him to move the team elsewhere, he would
quickly find that the football grass is much greener in Denver.

True, there may be some cities with self-image problems
that would build him a brand-new stadium. But once the stadium is built, you have to sell
tickets. There are no fans in America more ready to fill a large football stadium--in good
times and in bad--than Denver Bronco fans. The franchise has sold out almost every home
game for the last three decades, including in seasons when the team could only win five
games.

Try getting that kind of ticket sales in Los Angeles, or
Birmingham, or wherever Pat Bowlen thinks the fans are better.

Dave Kopel is Research Director at the Independence
Institute, a free-market think tank in Golden, http://i2i.org.

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